Rhythm of the Reckless
by Aya-dono
Summary: AU. Quatre thought he was lucky to make friends with the two new transfer students from L-2. However, Duo and Kurama have their own issues to deal with - and it won't be pretty. 1x2, 3x4, HieixKurama
1. Follow the Tempo

**A/N**: I dedicate this to my friend, Sabrina.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own either Yu Yu Hakusho or Gundam Wing.

**Warning**: BL (Boys Love, Yaoi, Slash, Homosexuality - whatever you label it, it's in here), profanity

**Pairings**:

_Yu Yu Hakusho_: (main) HieiXKurama, (side) YusukexKeiko, slew of minor background character pairings

_Gundam Wing_: (main) 1x2, 3x4

_Crossover Pairings_: Still in the works. May or may not be - 5xYukina

_One-sided_: Rx1, KarasuxKurama

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

* * *

><p>"Hey! Did you guys hear the news?" Botan squealed loudly to her friends, practically sprinting into the classroom and narrowly avoiding a direct collision with the two boys hovering around an irritated Chang Wufei. Urameshi Yusuke and Kuwabara Kazuma both winced at the girl's pitch, hesitant to respond when the bluenette looked so excited to share her gossip. (The last time they had rained on her parade, she'd gone ballistic; it had taken weeks to get the blood and gum out of their clothes.)<p>

"You're getting therapy?" Wufei asked, faux-hopefully. Botan pouted at him but looked pleased that someone had decided to engage in her banter. "That's mean! And _no_! I mean, we get two new students!" she said, bouncing from one foot to the other.

"Two new students? Have you seen them, Botan?" Yukina asked. As the younger sister of one of the most infamous students attending Reikai Senior High School, she'd solidified herself as someone constantly in the know. Luckily for the populace, Yukina was innately kind and felt no desire to abuse her own power.

"No, no one has. A few people just heard some teachers talking about it!" Botan replied, steadying herself.

"Who cares, anyway?" Yusuke said, leaning against the wall with a scowl - likely just irritated his usual morning smoke had been interrupted today by a fuming Keiko.

"Yusuke, please try to act sociable. We don't want to scare them away on the first day," Keiko replied, rubbing her temples. If all else failed, she suppose she could just beat him into acceptable social behavior.

"Hn," Heero and Hiei said in unison - all but implying that the word 'sociable' wasn't even in their dictionaries and they had no desire to revise it in.

"The only thing that will scare them away is Kuwabara's face," Yusuke snickered.

"For your information, Urameshi, my face is perfectly amenable! My cat loves me!" Kuwabara said defensively. The girls immediately burst into giggles at the cat defense, but that did little to dissuade Kuwabara from his foolproof argument.

Trowa Barton - who had, as per usual, adopted silence as his opinion - glanced around at his friends as if to check them all off on some mental attendance list. When all his friends - and their opinions on Botan's latest gossip - had been accounted for, green eyes moved on to the blond sitting across the room.

Quatre Raberba Winner was still fairly new to Reikai High, and although very friendly to all he spoke to, he had yet to make any solid friends. Trowa had been more than tempted to approach, but every time he tried he either lost confidence mid-venture or he was completely misunderstood by the blond boy. His spectacular fail rate had been a source of great amusement to his friends for the past few months.

"Dude, stop checking him out!" Yusuke teased with a wide grin. Trowa's answering glare earned nothing but a cheekish "Now _that _is a sexy Look!" from the other boy.

"Everyone, take your seats. We have two new students joining us today. Why the Board decided to put them in our homeroom, I'll never understand - but they sure as hell better start some kind of therapy program for teachers or I'm gonna set this place _ablaze_," Sensui muttered.

The students glanced at each other, torn between laughing at their teacher's discomfort or panicking over the recent discovery of Sensui's pyromania.

"Alright, you two can come in," Sensui said at the door, sounding completely unenthusiastic. Soon, a pretty boy with long, red hair and stunning green eyes walked in. He looked like the model student-type; khaki pants and a plan white button-up, the sleeves long enough to go well past his wrists. After him walked another boy with a long, chestnut braid and lively amethyst eyes. Unlike his red-haired companion, the boy had the look of a classic delinquent: tight black jeans and a nondescript grey shirt underneath a well-worn leather jacket.

"Class, welcome your new classmates, Kurama Minamino and Duo Maxwell," Sensui introduced with professional disinterest. For their part, the two new students looked just as interested in the proceedings; besides a casual regarding of the environment, those inside, and identifying all the escape routes, the two looked as if they'd rather be anywhere but here. "Don't be shy, you two - go ahead and introduce yourselves," Sensui said.

The redhead pasted on a smile that spoke of professionalism and complete lies. "Hello. I am Kurama Minamino. I come from the colony L-2."

_That _started murmurs in the classroom that were deftly ignored by the two at the front. The braided boy grinned widely, practically scaring most of the class back into obedient silence. Somehow, the smile had looked almost _feral_. "I'm Duo Maxwell. I'm also from colony L-2!" he said.

"So you're both from L-2, hm? Did you know each other before you came here?" Sensui asked.

"Yeah, me and the fox here know each other _real well_," Duo replied with a leer.

Kurama only rolled his eyes. "Don't be lewd, Duo."

Hilde Schbeiker - sitting front and center - cocked her head questioningly. "Are you guys here as a result of the L-2 Juvenile Corrections Act?" she asked. A fair question, in its own right - for the past 15 years, the L-2 colony cluster had been locked in a state of civil unrest that had resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 of its own citizens. It had been a colony-wide gang war characterized by massacres and - as recently discovered - political corruption. Other Lagrange colonies and even the United Earth Sphere Alliance had been forced to step in to wipe out the government and deal with the gangs just to avoid what was looking to be the inevitable genocide of all lower-income L-2 citizens. With this, the L-2 Juvenile Corrections Act was put into place; L-2 orphans are put in schools across the globe and given housing and assistance by the Alliance.

"Boundaries, Miss Schbeiker," Sensui was quick to warn. Neither Kurama nor Duo looked too concerned though, giving only small nods in answer but not clarifying. The class decided to drop the uncomfortable topic.

"Boys, take a seat anywhere," Sensui dismissed.

Duo lead the way to the most convenient seat for him - right next to Quatre Winner. Kurama followed without a word, taking the one in front of the blond and giving the person to his immediate left - Kuwabara - a friendly smile and nod in greeting.

"So, cutie," Duo greeted the blond easily, smarmy grin still in place. "How _you _doin'?"

Quatre chuckled, smile warm as he winked at the braided boy. "Better, now that you're here to rescue me from boredom," he easily parried. Duo waggled his eyebrows suggestively, earning another small bout of chuckles from his new seatmate. (Across the room, Trowa broke the pencil he was holding.)

"And what's my new arm-candy's name?" Duo asked brightly.

"Quatre Winner," Quatre replied, false-moony eyes perfectly in place.

"Hear that, fox? I'm dumping you for Quat here!" Duo tossed over to the redhead pulling out the required textbook from his backpack. Kurama glanced back, green eyes giving Quatre a thorough once-over before looking back to the grinning boy. "So now you've moved on to blondes, Duo? You philanderer."

"What can I say? Blondes have more fun!"

"You're invited too, Kurama," Quatre said, doing quite the impressive leer in return. Both boys blinked at him, startled, before bursting into laughter.

"Ah, you're awesome! You are totally my new best friend!" Duo declared.

* * *

><p>Duo poked at his school lunch. It was his lucky day - they were serving Meat Surprise. "I think it's breathing," Duo muttered to himself.<p>

Kurama just stared at his own share. "I'll name it Joe," he decided solemnly, resolutely putting his fork down and going so far as to push a stalk of undercooked broccoli towards the mound of meat-ish glop in an attempted feeding.

"Why are you even bothering poor Joe with vegetables? Isn't it obvious he prefers students?" Duo snorted.

"Like I'm going to trust the advice of someone who doesn't even realize Joe is a girl," Kurama returned coolly.

Quatre tsked. "Really, Duo, it's so obvious; everyone knows the females have the most green spots."

"Don't make me disown you, Quat."

"On a sidenote," Kurama interrupted, pushing away his tray and not looking anywhere near his newly-proclaimed female pet. "Why does that guy keep looking at you?" Kurama asked, head tilted subtly in Trowa's direction. The unibanged boy could be seen glancing over at their little trio every now and then, attention conspicuously focused moreso on the blonder element of their group.

Quatre glanced back, managing to catch Trowa mid-gaze before the brunette hurriedly turned back his attention to his own group, seemingly forcing an obviously-amused Wufei into a staring contest. Quatre turned back to Kurama, confusion evident over his features. "I honestly don't know. Trowa hardly talks to me outside of class, and even then it's about assignments...or the weather..."

Trowa's conversational skills obviously left a lot to be desired.

"Awkwardness has its own charms, I guess," Duo mused to his redheaded friend. Kurama only chuckled, shaking his head a bit at Quatre's confusion. To the blond's annoyance, neither of his companions felt the need to divulge their newest source of amusement.

"What is it?" Quatre asked worriedly. "You don't think he's mad that I got a higher test score on that pop quiz last week, do you?"

"Yeah, that's definitely it," Kurama replied dryly. "Curse you and your ability to regurgitate facts better than he can."

"I'm being serious!" Quatre whined. "You know I beat him in a debate in our last government class? Not that that was especially hard, seeing as he really didn't say anything about his side of the issue..."

"Ah, finally, something to marvel at," Duo deadpanned. "A nerd's revenge on another nerd."

Quatre pouted. "I'm sensing a lot of judgment from you two," the blond noted. On cue, both boys widened their eyes in faux-innocence, inciting another laugh from their new friend. "Alright, alright, I get it; I'm a loser and you two are angels."

"If it helps, you're a really hot loser," Duo said.

"Gee, thanks," Quatre replied, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Does your stalker-"

"He is not my stalker!" Quatre interjected hotly.

"-always engage his friends in glaring contests every time he's caught gazing at you? Because I must say, most of them have quite the impressive glower," Kurama finished without pause, eyes lingering over the scowling visage of Hiei Jaganshi.

Quatre looked back over, blushing lightly at catching Trowa's eyes on him before the emerald pair looked away - startling Botan, who'd been innocently engaged in gossip with both Yukina and Cathy. "Ah, you mean Hiei? He's actually like the top delinquent in whatever hierarchy system they have in this school. I've never seen him doing anything myself, but you hear things here and there. His two closest friends are Yusuke - that boy with the slicked back hair - and Kuwabara - the one next to the petite girl with the blue hair - are actually more likely to get into a fight than Hiei is."

"Ooh, he has leader written all over those handsome features," Duo smirked. "How about the one with the messy hair and icy look?"

"Heero Yuy. Not a delinquent - his record is perfect - but damn scary. I think he's president of the Physics club, too." Quatre identified.

"This school has got some awesomely hot nerds," Duo pointed out glibly.

Quatre rolled his eyes with a smile. "And those 'awesomely hot nerds' also happen to be some of the most sought-after guys on campus. Just give up - it will save you a lot of trouble. I think Relena Peacecraft has dibs on Heero; she's the heiress to Darlian Enterprises."

Both colony boys frowned, looking speculative. "I know them," Duo said softly. "They funded the Scavengers."

Quatre blinked in confusion. "Scavengers?"

"An L-2 colloquialism," Kurama explained. "They were people that scoured the streets to pick up orphans and the like. You'd know them as Preventers."

Quatre swallowed that new piece of information quietly. He supposed that the entire L-2 intervention must have looked radically different from the other two's perspective as compared to those like Quatre - outsiders who had no idea what was going on until too late.

"Well, no use dwelling on it. I'm going to get some more juice," Kurama said, leaving the table. Duo gave Heero one last wondering look before turning his attention back to the redhead, nodding in understanding and watching him leave.

* * *

><p>"You got caught looking, huh?" Cathy teased her brother. Trowa refused to reply, moving on from Botan's confused look and into Heero's tolerant stoicism. It wasn't lost on any of them that the two new students were talking about them; both boys openly stared at them and Quatre - from what they could see and assume - was quick to answer any questions.<p>

"Hey look, one of the devils left the perch," Yusuke observed aloud.

"What kind of code language is that?" Hiei asked derisively, glancing over only on reflex and noting that the redhead had entered back into the cafeteria line.

Botan only pouted. "To be honest, I thought they'd be a lot more exciting - they're from L-2, for chrissakes! But they seem perfectly obedient to the rules and they even fell in with that goody-goody Quatre."

"There's nothing wrong with being a goody-goody," Trowa intoned darkly, green eyes sweeping over the girl as if daring her to make another slight. Botan instantly shook her head, agreeing and laughing nervously.

All of a sudden, there was a loud crash, some gasps, and the lunchroom went dead silent. In line was where everyone's eyes settled. There stood Kurama, whose face belied no emotion other than cold disgust as he held himself stiffly, as if he were restraining whatever impulse of fight-or-flight. Before him was Karasu Kurotobi - dripping wet with what looked to be chocolate milk.

"Perhaps next time you should keep your hands to yourself," Kurama said calmly, and without further ado, pivoted and exited the cafeteria. Duo and Quatre both jumped from their seats, following after the redhead, the latter only glancing back to give Karasu a disapproving look.

"Well," Yusuke began snidely. "How is _that _for exciting, Botan?"

* * *

><p>"Is there an actual explanation as to why you wasted milk on that jerk, or am I just to assume it's that special time of year where you pick random bystanders to assault with food?" Duo asked, striding at Kurama's side and looking eerily calm. Quatre, at Duo's left, looked exasperated that the only thing the braided boy seemed to care about was the choco-milk that had been used as weapon in what could have been labeled as assault.<p>

"He's lucky I didn't take off his arm," Kurama replied coldly. At Duo's raised eyebrow and Quatre's worried look, the redhead looked away with what - the two finally noticed - was a petulant look. "He touched my hair."

That made both boys stop short. Kurama paused, turning to address them but not looking them in the eye. "What?" Duo asked, evidently dumbfound.

"I said," Kurama began with every ounce of dignity that he really shouldn't have in this sort of situation. "He _touched _my _hair_."

"I cannot believe you," Duo said, a grin widening on his lips in response to the pure bewilderment he felt. "You fuckin' _girl_. He touched your hair so you thought a milk-shower was the appropriate response?"

"I don't see why you're passing judgment; who was the one who nearly broke that Scavenger's arm when he grabbed your braid?" Kurama returned.

"Oh fuck you, Kurama. You know that asshole tried to yank me back by the braid and totally deserved that beat-down. _You _milked a guy for petting that pretty mane of yours."

Quatre took all this in silently, breaking into a wide grin. "...So I guess it's safe to assume that those buzzcuts I totally envisioned for you both aren't going to happen?"

"Fuck you too, Quat."

* * *

><p>"Well, I hope Karasu learns that sexual harassment is never okay!" Botan snorted. The cafeteria had returned to its status quo after the trio's quick exit, ignoring Karasu as he glided in the direction of the bathrooms to clean himself up as best as he could. The monitors were nowhere to be found, but that wasn't exactly uncommon for their school.<p>

"The hand of Justice is always swift and true," Wufei muttered, stabbing viciously into what once had been a somewhat decent-looking burrito. The others had picked up their previous conversations with ease, but it looked as if Botan and the rest of the girls were content to run with the new topic of Duo and Kurama.

"We should get to know them. It's always nice to make new friends~" Cathy started with a leer, tilting a wicked smirk at her younger brother. Trowa looked everywhere but straight at her, but Cathy didn't look the least bit perturbed by it. "And this way we can get Trowa in closer proximity to Quatre. Wouldn't that be nice, Trowa?"

"I'm sure he'd enjoy that!" Botan agreed, smile wide and sinister.

Trowa looked to the other guys for help - but all pointedly looked away.

_Traitors_! Trowa hissed mentally.

* * *

><p>"I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Quatre bid, standing awkwardly before a Rolls-Royce and trading a small smile with his chauffeur. Rashid and the rest of the Maguanacs were some of the few people Quatre wholly trusted, and he was only glad he'd gotten his obstinate father to agree to hire the otherwise rowdy men.<p>

"Of course. Hopefully Duo will have settled in by then and can start irritating you, too," Kurama replied with a wistful tone. Duo, stationed at the redhead's side, rolled his eyes with an unrepentant smile.

"See ya tomorrow, Quat!" Duo called back as the blond got into the car. "Think of my handsome features late into the night for comfort and pleasure!"

Duo reveled in the moment as Quatre looked to choke on air in his shock, the car pulling away amidst Duo's shit-eating grin. Kurama just sighed in exasperation, pivoting abruptly and beginning to make their long trek home.

"Ever wonder if this is how those posh schools back on L-2 were like?" Duo asked, quickly catching up to the other boy. Both paused to take in the sight of cars lining the roads to pick up the students too young to drive, or teenage drivers exiting the parking lot in cars the two boys had previously only dreamed of seeing. Others appeared to be trekking either to their homes or other locations on foot, but it was lost on neither that they were headed in an opposite direction. It only figured - the only thing that lied west of their high school was a park, and further past that, the shabby homes where they had been stowed.

"As if anything drudged up on L-2 could even compare," Kurama dismissed.

* * *

><p>"So they walk?" Botan said, watching as both Duo and Kurama began to walk off school grounds. Their own little group had congregated near the school gates and was lounging (read: terrorizing) every other student that walked past. Not that they <em>meant <em>to terrorize anyone, it was just that with their group's accumulated infamy, fear was just something that was induced purely through their presence.

"That's none of our business, Botan," Yusuke reminded her dryly, digging through his pockets in hopes of finding a stray cigarette. Hiei, annoyed, tossed him one of his own and Yusuke gratefully lit it up - completely ignoring Heero's distasteful look.

Kuwabara twitched, the hairs on the back of his neck rising at the sensation of eyes on him. Glancing back, he was startled to see both Kurama and Duo across the street from their little group. "Hey, they're looking right at us!" he noted aloud to his friends. Everyone's eyes turned to where Kuwabara's were locked, meeting two pairs of cold green and amethyst eyes. Duo and Kurama were standing completely still, looking almost casual as they regarded the group 30 meters away. Kurama said something and Duo nodded, before the braided boy suddenly broke into a grin. He waved at them amicably as the pair began walking again, chatting and smiling like nothing happened.

"Almost thought they wanted to start something," Yusuke muttered.

Botan blinked. "Maybe they were in a gang back on L-2? The L-2 gangs were supposed to be heavily territorial, I think..."

"Gang members don't go into the Juvenile Corrections program," Yukina reminded her softly. She had done some reading on the program a while ago for a government paper, so she knew a bit about the subject.

"Well, at least Maxwell seems nice enough," Cathy pointed out. "We can work in from that angle to get to Quatre. What do you think of that, Trowa? Heero - help me out here! Maxwell's cute, right? Totally your type."

Heero glared at her.

Trowa sighed. "Cathy, stop helping."

"Never!" the older girl cackled.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I admit it - I've always wanted to do an High School AU. It's like a guilty pleasure for writers. XD

_To those in the know_: I'm addressing you, my MediaMiner graduates! -_grin_- Yeah, I authored that terrible thing on there. This is the revision of it.

_**Drop a review** please_! Concrit is also appreciated!


	2. To The Beat

**A/N**: ...I won't apologize! XD

**Disclaimer**: I do not own.

**Warnings**: Ditto last chapter.

**Pairings**: Ditto last chapter.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

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><p>"Hey, so I've been thinking," Duo began idly, reclining in his seat. It was Calculus I with Professor Itsuki currently, but the man had stepped out nearly twenty minutes ago to talk to Sensui about something. "Maybe you're right, Quat; Trowa doesn't have a crush on you. Maybe he's actually a budding psychic, trying to hone his telepathic abilities by concentrating on you."<p>

Kurama nodded solemnly. "And once he has Quatre under control, he'll move on to you, then to me, until finally he has everyone in the school under his command. Finally - his world domination plans come to fruition!"

"Exactly! That's why we have to remain strong after Q-bean inevitably falls to Trowa's charms, Fox! Don't let those intense, emerald eyes sway you! Don't be distracted by that lithe, flexible body! That cool, imposing demeanor!" Duo crowed, grabbing the redhead's hands.

Kurama shook his head, face the picture of melodrama. "B-But it's so hard, Duo! Every time he glances over me to stare meaningfully into Quatre's adorably oblivious face, my heart is sent aflutter! I don't know how much longer I can continue on like this!"

"No, Fox! Be brave! You can't leave me alone like this!" Duo cried.

Kurama _swooned_. "Oh, there Trowa goes again! Completely ignoring me to gaze at Quatre's studious form. How long must I endure his unintentional torture?"

Quatre slammed his textbook closed, face completely red from embarrassment. "_You two are wasting your lives_."

They grinned back at him, utterly unrepentant.

Luckily for the blond, before the two could continue on in their ridiculously saccharine melodrama that had been slowly entrancing the rest of their classmates, Itsuki re-entered the room. Besides looking a bit...post-coital...he resumed the lesson with nary a hitch.

* * *

><p>Lunchtime couldn't roll around fast enough. Duo was getting sick of lectures, and it certainly didn't help that Kurama had taken on the self-appointed task of being his at-home tutor and practically cramming years' worth of schooling down his throat every night. The braided boy couldn't help but wonder if his friend found some kind of sick enjoyment out of tutoring his less-studious counterpart.<p>

"Hey, where's my Kitten?" Duo asked, looking around.

"If you ever pay attention instead of yapping off, you'd know he went to get a drink," Kurama answered, biting into his apple - the only thing he'd deigned to buy for lunch today. Duo stuck his tongue out at him before opening his pizza pocket - the safest thing to be purchased as far a hot school lunches went.

"And Kitten? Are you going to give everyone animal nicknames now?" Kurama asked.

Duo grinned. "Only because you two are so near and dear to my heart," he replied.

* * *

><p>Quatre glared at the evil, money-stealing thief - also known as the Gatorade machine. "That was a complete waste of money. I should have this damn thing banned," he muttered to himself, clearly unable to forgive the mechanical error. This vending machine will rue the day it decided to steal from the Winner heir!<p>

"Is something wrong?" a monotone voice asked from behind him.

He turned around to be face-to-chest with Trowa Barton.

Quatre flushed. "N-No, nothing's wrong..."

"…" Trowa stared at him blankly. Quatre blinked.

Trowa stared. Quatre blinked.

Stare. Blink.

Stare. Blink. Stare. Blink. Stare…

* * *

><p>"What's taking him so long? It's been five minutes…" Kurama said, lowering his textbook.<p>

Duo snapped out of his daze. "Maybe he got lost?"

"The school isn't that big," Kurama scoffed. "Let's go find him. Hopefully he hasn't been accosted by anyone."

"Quat does have that kind of 'easily-victimized' air about him, doesn't he?" Duo said glibly, bouncing out of his seat. The two exited the cafeteria and into the courtyard, catching sight of Quatre and - "Hey hey, it's Quat's stalker!" - by the soda machines, engaged in a staring contest. (Although Quatre looked considerably more confused by it than any of Trowa's friends.)

Trowa's usual crowd of friends was on the other side of the courtyard, taking up residence under a towering tree that provided a lovely amount of shade. They alternated between eating and watching the spectacle by the vending machines, expressions ranging from amusement to exasperation.

Kurama sighed, "This is going to be a long school year..."

Duo snickered openly, body shaking from barely holding back his guffaws. "I don't know if Barton's lack of flirting skills makes this entire situation adorable or humiliating!"

Quatre himself wasn't faring much better. It was already hard enough to think straight while staring into Trowa's handsome face, but the lack of conversation was making this entire thing awkward. (For some reason, talking about such inconsequential things such as homework or their teachers wasn't really cutting it at this point.)

"Trowa...d-did you need something?" Quatre asked hesitantly, unsure if this impromptu stare-down was the result of some bottled-up aggression. _If he's this sore over the debate last week, he should have actually tried to argue with me!_the blond cried internally.

Trowa blinked, apparently caught off-guard by the question. Before he could answer, however, Quatre's epiphany hit and the blond immediately blushed a bright pink. "Oh, I'm sorry - were you going to get a drink and I'm getting in the way? But the Gatorade machine doesn't work, so...er..." the blond fumbled as moved out of the way.

"Wait, that isn't -" Trowa began as the blond turned.

Quatre didn't appear to have heard him. "Well, see you around, Trowa!"

The blond was already moving very fast away, heading towards the cafeteria - before he caught sight of both Duo and Kurama lounging by the doors looking far too amused. Quatre's blush darkened as he swept past them with a mutter, "Not. One. Word."

Duo merely cackled as they trailed after him.

Trowa sighed. _I messed up again, _he realized glumly. It wasn't that he was socially awkward - except that he totally was - it's just that Trowa had always been very gifted at getting across what he needed to without the need for many words. His great affinity with animals usually carried across well into his social life, and his friends all understood - or quickly learned to understand - his every thought and action. He hadn't counted on his attraction to the blond boy and their relatively loose acquaintance to hinder him so much in regards to courtship.

"You really suck at flirting," Cathy commented bluntly.

Trowa came as close to a scowl as he ever could, "I know."

* * *

><p>Kurama was not a fan of his English Literature class. It wasn't that he found it difficult or boring - he was quite fond of the subject, actually - and it wasn't that the teacher was poor or witless; it was because he had to suffer sitting in a room with about twenty other people - one of them being Karasu but none of them being either Duo or Quatre.<p>

Kurama hated Karasu. From the moment the black-haired teen had run a hand through his hair and cooed in his ear about how beautiful he found the redhead, Kurama had hated him. The teen was suave in a way that was ultimately creepy and heavily reminded the redhead of the people he had been taught to dodge back in L-2.

Fortunately for Kurama, Professor Merquise had noted his dislike for the other teen and kept them at opposite sides of the room. This, oddly enough, put Kurama in the seat directly next to Hiei Jaganshi. Of course, they never talked - Hiei wasn't the least bit interested in either the class or Kurama, and the redhead was perfectly content with paying all of his attention to the professor's lecture.

Unfortunately for the both of them, Professor Zechs Merquise was a bit of a sadist.

"Today you will be starting your first semester project," Professor Merquise started benignly, all smiles as his class groaned in misery. "I will be assigning you into pairs, and you and your partner will be choosing a passage from any of the Modern Classics and doing a short 5-minute skit. When you decide on your book, come tell me - I don't want any repeats. First come, first served. You have until Wednesday to make your choice."

"We can't choose our partner?" Koto protested, sharing a pouting look with her friend, Juri.

"Where's the fun in that?" Professor Merquise replied cheerfully. He took a piece of paper from his desk and waved it at the class with a grin. "I'll be reading off pairs, so listen up! Suzuka, you're with Shishiwakamaru-"

"As usual?" Suzuka commented dryly, glancing over as his boyfriend lightly punched him in the arm.

Zechs continued on, "Kaname, you're with Mitarai-"

"This is starting to sound like the professor's poor attempt at matchmaking," Kaname - nicknamed Sniper by his peers due to a previous incident the student body as a whole refuses to go into - pointed out casually.

"Bui, you're with Zeru-" Zechs forged on.

"_Sonuvabitch_!" Zeru cried out.

Zechs deftly ignored him, "Hinageshi is with Dorothy."

Dorothy glared at him, "_What_."

"Hiei, you're with Kurama."

Kurama glanced over at Hiei.

Hiei glared back over at him. "Don't annoy me," the shorter teen hissed.

Kurama smiled - soft and predatory. "I don't think I can annoy someone as _charming _as you."

Hiei twitched.

* * *

><p>"Everyone, remember safety with sharp objects…" Professor Treize Khushrenada began solemnly, eyeing his Home Economics class with thinly-veiled caution. He had been caught in some kind of faculty trap, as far as he was concerned - how else did he end up with some of the most violent and rowdy students Reikai had to offer? Clearly Principal Enma had never forgiven him for switching out all of his hard liquor stash with fine wine.<p>

Last week had been dedicated to numerous lectures on kitchen safety and choosing a recipe to try out for this very day. Each group - seven groups of four teens total - had presented their chosen recipe to him last week and he'd gone ingredient shopping for them over the weekend. Groups were made based off of tables, and since he'd given them assigned seats, the end results were quite interesting.

"Alright, so what do we do first?" Touya asked his fellow groups members. They had chosen vegetable stew as their first recipe (for reasons still unclear to them), so an assortment of vegetables lay out on the table in front of them. Wufei was already starting to sort them - "There will be no peas in this soup!" - as Heero started to boil water at the stove and Duo eyed the cutting board and large cutting knife excitedly.

"Might as well start cutting up the vegetables," Wufei pointed out. Duo practically lunged forward, knife at the ready with a large grin.

"I guess Maxwell is doing the cutting then," Touya hedged out warily. Heero shrugged in indifferent acceptance as Wufei pushed a pile of veggies in the braided boy's direction. "Start with the tomatoes, then," the Chinese boy instructed before quickly withdrawing his hand as the knife instantly slammed down into said vegetables, dicing it to pieces in a fast pace.

"Watch what you're cutting, you idiot!" Wufei yelled.

"Sorry!" Duo replied instantly, not sounding very sorry at all. An unholy light seemed to be filling his eyes as he expertly peeled, cut, and diced the vegetables into the appropriate pieces. Of course, the maniacal grin on his face and the occasional evil-sounding cackle he emitted every now and then were hardly comforting...

"Wait, not the baby carrots, those are already small!"

"Hey, I don't think we were supposed to cut that..."

"Maxwell, _put down the knife_!"

"Omae o korosu."

"_You almost cut off my finger_!"

"_MAXWELL, GIVE ME THE KNIFE! THIS IS INJUSTICE!_"

The other groups were watching in morbid fascination as Wufei wrestled the knife from Duo's hands. Professor Treize, for his part, just idled over and looked over the neatly-cut vegetables with an appreciative eye. "Nice cutting, but don't let the water boil too long."

"Is that all you have to say?" Wufei growled at him, hand clenching the knife and keeping a dark eye on an unrepentant Duo.

"I guess it's a good thing we didn't get Maxwell," Botan murmured, stirring the tomato sauce. Her group had chosen spaghetti and was already almost finished.

Mukuro smiled. "I don't know, it looks like Yuy is having fun."

Heero was stoically scarping the diced vegetables into the pot as Wufei lectured Duo about proper kitchen etiquette. ("You are never allowed to touch a knife again, Maxwell!") Botan and Yukina merely stared at the other girl in incomprehension.

"I call dibs on leftovers!" Duo claimed from his seat. (Wufei wasn't going to allow him to leave his chair until the bell rang.) Touya only shrugged indifferently - vegetable stew wasn't really his favorite anyway.

Wufei glared over at the braided boy. "We _share _the leftovers, Maxwell."

"But there's only one tupperware!" Duo pointed out.

"Then you eat lunch with us," Heero said calmly.

Wufei died a little on the inside when he realized it: his friend was attracted to Maxwell. _Why can't he go for the __**sane, non-violent**__ ones_? the Chinese boy inwardly mourned.

He died a little more as Duo cheerfully agreed to Heero's invitation.

* * *

><p>When lunch finally rolled around, Wufei was already stalking towards the spot his friends had claimed with a dark look on his face. Trailing behind him was Heero - carrying a large tupperware - along with Duo, Kurama, and Quatre. The braided teen was holding a bag of paper bowls and plastic utensils, chatting excitedly at Heero's side as the messy-haired teen gave the occasional grunt andor death threat to show he was listening. Both Kurama and Quatre had fallen a step behind and were holding their own conversation, appearing unconcerned by the shocked and curious looks of the people they were approaching.

"Everyone say your goodbyes to Yuy," Wufei said as soon as he reached his friends. "I'm going to kill him."

"That's nice, Wufei," Cathy said absently, patting the younger boy on the head. Wufei knocked her hand away with a scowl but his displeasure was forced into the background as Heero and the others reached them, the messy-haired teen setting his burden down and swiping the bowls and plasticware away from the braided teen.

"Hiya!" Duo greeted happily. "I'm Duo Maxwell, if ya didn't know. We're gonna be eating lunch with you today because Wuffers, Hee-chan, and I made something really delicious today in Home Ec!"

"Don't eat it, there's probably blood in it! Maxwell was hacking things left and right!" Wufei warned.

Kurama stared at his friend warily. "They let you have a knife?"

"He gets to read the recipe card only from now on," Heero stated coolly, handing the braided menace his portion of the stew.

Duo pouted, pivoting to latch on to the redhead. "They're so cruel to me! Professor K even said I diced the veggies up really well!"

"So there really is blood in it then..." Quatre said, giving the stew a dubious glance. Kurama stifled a chuckle as Duo shot the blond a mock-betrayed look. It took a moment for the blond teen to realize who had moved to his other side; he flashed Trowa a warm - if slightly self-conscious - smile.

"Quatre," Trowa began stiffly. "How are you?"

"Very well, thank you," Quatre answered automatically, years of formal training kicking in. "And how are you today?"

"Fine," Trowa replied. Catherine, Botan, and Kuwabara had spent the weekend drilling Flirting and Casual Conversation into him, although right now he felt as if his brain had turned to mush at the mere sight of his blond crush.

"I like your shirt," Trowa stated. (_"Compliments are always handy if you don't know what to say!" _Botan had lectured.) Yusuke choked on his water.

Quatre had his own impromptu lecture earlier this morning by his two friends, who were only far too willing to give him advice on how to converse with the intimidating teen. It had also sounded strangely like dating advice, but Quatre had just dismissed the thought; there was no way Trowa would like someone like him, after all.

"Thank you!" Quatre squeaked out, blushing faintly. ("_Try and follow the flow of the conversation_," Kurama had advised. "_If he talks about school, stay on topic. If he compliments you, reply in kind_.")

"I-I like the color of your shirt," Quatre admitted, flustered. Duo covered his mouth with both hands as he forcibly stopped himself from bursting into laughter.

"Your hair looks nice today," Trowa continued.

"Your hair always looks nice, Trowa!"

"I saw you got the highest score on Professor Chu's exam..."

"And you always get a perfect score on Professor Une's tests!"

For a while, everyone just watched the two's ping-ponging conversation - getting more awkward and increasingly unintentionally flirtatious as it continued - before deciding to leave them to their own devices. For some reason, the atmosphere around the two was getting a distinctly pink-hued tone.

"Hiei," Kurama started, approaching the shorter male and utterly ignoring his dark glower. "For our English Lit project, how would you feel about doing Mitchell's _Gone With the Wind_?"

"Hell no," Hiei answered curtly.

"_The Bell Jar_? _Brave New World_? How about _Lolita_?" Kurama continued on, managing to remain completely straight-faced.

"How about _The Hobbit_?" Kuwabara offered with a wide grin.

Hiei glared at the taller teen. "No one wants to hear an idiot's opinion."

"Shut up, shorty!"

Hiei ignored Kuwabara as he glared back over at Kurama. "And it's going to be _No Country for Old Men_ if you continue to pick stupid books."

Kurama mock-frowned at him. "But I happen to really like _Brave New World_," the redhead protested as Hiei turned back to his soda with a dark look.

"There's just something very attractive about orange teeth," Kurama continued easily, a smile coming to his lips as Hiei proceeded to choke on his drink.

"You're doing a skit in that class, right?" Keiko asked politely. "I heard Hinageshi complaining about it. I think her partner wanted to do Stephen King's _Carrie_."

"Her partner is Catalonia," Hiei responded.

The group at large seemed to understand instantly, with the exception of Duo and Kurama. Before either boy could ask them - since Quatre was too busy complimenting Trowa's eye color in response to Trowa's earlier compliment on his own - they were interrupted as a small group of girls exited the cafeteria and headed towards the group. Leading the girl pack was a slender, pretty girl with wheat-blond hair and blue eyes with a fondness for pink - if her clothing and backpack were any indication.

"Relena!" Yukina and the others girls greeted cheerfully.

Relena gifted them with a warm smile, even though her groupies looked none-too-pleased - with the exception of Dorothy, whose attention was now on the Awkward Teenage Blossoming Romance that was Trowa and Quatre.

"I heard from Ruka that in Home Ec today, Heero and Wufei actually made stew. I just had to see the end result myself," Relena explained, looking towards the messy-haired teen with a teasing smile.

"You're too late - Maxwell already inhaled it all," Wufei replied dryly.

"I was hungry!" Duo said defensively. "And it was good! Probably because Hee-chan put all his love into it for me?" Cue flirtatious smirk.

Before Heero could reply - with a retort somewhere along the lines of a snort - one of Relena's groupies immediately jumped to the defense as Relena herself just looked shocked that Heero didn't try and hit the braided boy in response. "As if Yuy would put in any effort for you when he has Miss Relena!"

Duo glanced over at the girl with a coldly calculating look before breaking into a smug smirk.

"That's a rather devious look," Yusuke commented, lounging on the grass to Kurama's right - as Hiei was on the redhead's left and was vehemently shooting down every novel Kurama was suggesting. (Somewhere along the way, Kurama had moved on from Modern Classics to obscure-fiction-novels-with-titles-that-sounded-like-C-rated-porn-movies.) Kurama glanced over at his friend before giving Yusuke a nod. "Yes, Duo is definitely planning something."

Then Duo wrapped his arms around Heero's arm and rested his head against the slightly-homicidal youth's shoulder. "Of course Hee-chan put his love into it! The only way to a man's heart is through his stomach!"

As the groupies appeared to be suffering from extreme shock, they didn't hear Heero's response of "It'd be a lot easier to shoot you."

Relena just looked pleasantly amused. "I don't believe we've met before. I'm Relena Peacecraft," she introduced kindly. "Who are you?"

Kurama and Duo instantly perked up at the name. "Duo Maxwell," the braided teen replied with an easy grin. "I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie."

_Heir to the sponsor of the Scavengers_, Duo's mind instantly placed. The girl was a lot prettier and seemed a lot nicer than he'd heard; then again, L-2 natives were biased like that. Her lack of claws and fire-breathing was a bit of a let-down though.

"Miss Relena is heir to the Darlian Enterprise, isn't she?" Kurama mused aloud. His entire visage spoke of nothing but polite curiosity - he always had been the better liar. "You're a lot prettier than we've heard. Colonists from L-2 tend to talk about you quite often," the redhead explained to the girl's vaguely-puzzled look.

"Miss Relena's family is very popular with the colonies!" a groupie stated proudly. "Her family basically salvaged what was left of L-2 when everyone else had given up on it!"

If that was true, Hiei thought, then why did Kurama seem to hate the girl so much - merely on sight?

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: There will be no Relena-bashing in this fic! Just so everyone knows.

_Be nice and **drop a review**!_


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